Minimoon in Mendoza, Argentina

I first heard of the term "minimoon" a few years ago, and I'm pretty sure it made me roll my eyes - yet another way that weddings are getting more and more ridiculously complex and making people part with even more money, I thought to myself.

However, a few years on, following my own wedding in December 2024, I in fact did end up having a minimoon myself, though kind of by accident!

Despite living in Chile for most of his life, my husband Claudio had actually never been to Argentina before, and seeing as we had a couple of weeks left in Chile after our wedding, we decided to take the opportunity to go on a little trip over the border to the city of Mendoza.

I got on to the task of booking a hotel on Hotels.com, and discovered that I had two promotions available to me: Member Prices reduced the price of most hotels by a large percentage, and I also had £73 of OneKeyCash built up that I could apply to my reservation. We had a think, and eventually decided that in order to celebrate our recent marriage, we should book the fanciest 5-star hotel in the city, the Park Hyatt Mendoza. This hotel would have been around £220 for a night, but with the two promotions applied, it worked out at less than £90 - still more than we'd generally spend on a hotel (we usually go for budget hotels, like Ibis), but an amazing deal for what we were getting. So that was how we ended up having a rather fancy minimoon!

We decided to go by car, as the journey between Santiago and Mendoza is really picturesque with several interesting sights to see along the way. I took this journey by bus in 2023, and enjoyed it a lot, though I wished I could stop, get out and look at some places more closely. Of course, in the car, we were able to do just that, starting with Laguna del Inca, a lagoon high up in the Chilean Andes, right next to the border with Argentina.

Interestingly, there is actually an Inca legend based around this lagoon. It is said that an Inca king's wife was buried there and that the colour of her eyes turned the water emerald green. Supposedly, you can occasionally still hear the king crying with grief at night...

Despite the spooky legend, the lagoon is a very beautiful place, and very peaceful at this time of year (it gets busier in winter when people come up there to ski). Apparently, you can go kayaking on the water - something we'd like to try in the future!

After crossing into Argentina, we arrived at Parque Provincial Aconcagua, where we could park the car, and walk for a few minutes to a viewpoint, in order to look at the tallest mountain in the western hemisphere, Mount Aconcagua. It's hard to appreciate how tall it is from this distance, but it's still incredible to know that you're looking at the highest point in the world outside of the Himalayas.

We then drove to the official border crossing, which was where we hit a problem. Though we ourselves passed through customs with no issues, the car was not allowed through, as it apparently had an unpaid motorway tax from 2017. We knew this was an error, as Claudio had recently paid all the car's taxes, and there certainly wasn't an outstanding one from 2017 - obviously, it hadn't been correctly cleared from the system at the time when it was paid. But as it was Sunday, we couldn't phone up to ask about the error, so there was nothing we could do. We were beginning to think that we would have to give up our trip, but then one of the customs officers told us we could leave the car at the border, and pay to go the rest of the way in a bus if there were any spare seats. Fortunately, there was a bus just about to leave which had two seats free, so we did get to Mendoza after all! Unfortunately, we couldn't stop at Puente del Inca or Potrerillos Dam as planned, but the important thing is that we got there.

Once we arrived at the bus station in Mendoza, the first thing we did was book our return tickets for the following night. Frustratingly, we had to pay a full price ticket, even though we were only going to be doing less than half of the journey, which did make the trip as a whole a lot more expensive than we were expecting.

But once we got to our hotel, all the stresses of the day melted away. The Park Hyatt Mendoza was definitely one of the most special places we've ever stayed in! It's located right in the heart of the city, in front of Plaza Independencia, and is an absolutely beautiful building.

Our room was also pretty special. It was so spacious (the bathroom was like three rooms in one!) and had all the nice extras you get in a posh hotel, like dressing gowns, fancy toiletries and a Nespresso machine. I think it was my fourth time staying in a 5-star hotel and Claudio's first, so it was really a cut above what we're used to, and we definitely made the most of it!

After settling into our room, we were pretty hungry, as all we'd had to eat all day were the road trip snacks we'd packed - we'd planned to buy a lunch from the vendors at the border, but couldn't in the end, as we'd had to quickly jump on the bus.

Fortunately, in Mendoza, there's a lot of good food to enjoy. As a country, Argentina has a lot of Italian food, as most people there have some Italian ancestry, so we decided to go to a nearby Italian place, Pizzaiolo, where I had pizza and Claudio had an Argentinian steak.

Afterwards, Claudio went for a walk around Plaza Independencia, but I had stomach pains from the long day of travelling, so went back to the hotel for a soak in the bath and a cup of tea in the big, comfy bed. A nice way to end the day!

Our bus back to the border was at 22:00, which meant that we had pretty much the entirety of the following day to enjoy the hotel and the city. We started off with a delicious breakfast at a café called Chiamo, where we had avocado and eggs on toast, freshly squeezed orange juice, Argentinian coffee and a medialuna.

Following a little walk around Plaza Chile, one of the city's squares, we went back to the hotel to pack up our things and check out. But luckily for us, even after checking out, we still had the rest of the day to use the hotel's facilities, including the swimming pool and spa! So we spent a few very happy hours making the most of that!

For lunch, Claudio wanted to try milanesa, a typical dish from Argentina. However, he didn't realise quite how massive the portion was going to be! I had cannelloni, which was also pretty huge but very nice!

We then spent the rest of the day exploring the city on foot, including its squares, avenues, train station and Parque General San Martín. Given that we walked many kilometres, of course we also had to stop for gelato at Famiglia Perin! 

I didn't take many photos, as it was my third time in Mendoza (I first went in 2018 and visited for a second time in 2023), so I could just enjoy the experience of being there. To be honest, I hadn't really enjoyed my first trip there that much; I went on a big coach tour in the middle of winter, and we spent a lot of the time being shuttled from one photo spot to the next (most of which, I didn't find that impressive) and getting on and off the bus. We also stayed in the most horrible hostel imaginable, which didn't help matters! 

The second time I went was a solo trip in order to renew my Chilean visa, and although I had a strange and slightly scary experience of being harassed by another guest in my hotel on my first night there, it was overall a much more pleasant trip. I realised that Mendoza is a city that is perfect for strolling around and relaxing, particularly in the warmer months. I think it's a city that grows on you over time; it's not somewhere with lots of famous landmarks or super Instagrammable streets, but it's a great place to have some good food and drink and take things a bit more slowly.

I actually felt quite sad when it was time to collect our luggage from the hotel and head for the bus station, as I didn't feel like leaving Mendoza just yet - though that probably had quite a lot to do with not wanting to leave the Park Hyatt!

In any case, the bus ride to the border may not have been a 5-star hotel, but it wasn't as far off as you might expect! The seats were huge and could be reclined 180 degrees (why they don't offer this on long-haul flights, I can't understand), and so we dozed off easily during the couple of hours' journey to the border.

We were woken up by the bus attendant around midnight and dropped off on the side of the road to go and collect the car. Fortunately the journey home was smooth sailing, and we arrived back in our Airbnb in Santiago in the early hours of Christmas Eve, tired but very happy!

Overall, I found it was a really nice idea to have a minimoon - it was great to have a (mostly!) relaxing time away together and to treat ourselves with a luxurious hotel stay for the special occasion. I also think it makes sense to have a smaller, lower key trip straight after the wedding and to have the big honeymoon later, which is what we're going to be doing. We did consider going straight from Chile to another destination after the wedding, but I'm glad we decided against it, as it would have been a pretty full-on itinerary. Plus, it's nice to spread out the festivities and have our honeymoon to look forward to for a couple of months! So maybe I'll take back my initial eye roll over the minimoon trend (though I'll still retain it for anyone who flies abroad for several days and calls that a "minimoon" - that's definitely a honeymoon in my book!)

Following our arrival back in Chile, we had another week left to enjoy the sunshine, as well as Christmas with Claudio's family. In total we spent three weeks in South America, and I plan to publish a write-up of what we got up to outside of our wedding and trip to Argentina, very soon, right here on this blog!

Life Update and Autumn Travelling

Greetings travelling readers!

This post will most likely be my last of 2024, as in a couple of weeks' time, we'll be off to Chile to get married and then spend Christmas in the sun. So now that we're entering December, it seems like a good time to round up all the little adventures we've been on over the autumn months. 

Generally, autumn is not my favourite time of year. Even though my birthday is in October, I much prefer warm, sunny weather and long summer days when it doesn't get dark until late at night. I know a lot of people love the cosiness of autumn, but I hate how it gradually gets colder and darker with each passing day. It doesn't feel like that long ago that I was spending my afternoons after work sitting in the sun on the patio with a book and next door's adorable cat keeping me company, and now it's dark by 4 pm and I have to put on gloves and a hat to go outside some days.

But given that Claudio and I are going to be in the sun for most of December, as well as parts of February/March, it makes sense to try to enjoy the benefits of the colder weather while we're here. We've had some nice times out and about over the last couple of months, and I'll be writing about them today!

The Village Hotel, Swindon

I was given a voucher from work, and decided to use it on day passes to the Health & Wellness Club at our local Village Hotel in Swindon. These hotels all have a gym, a swimming pool, a hot tub, a sauna and a steam room, as well as a Starbucks and a pub-style restaurant. We'd previously stayed at the one in Swansea, but we actually found the Swindon one quieter and a bit nicer.

We started off our day there with a workout in the gym, which is huge and has all the equipment you could ask for. Afterwards, we had a relaxing swim, and rewarded ourselves with time in the hot tub and steam room, before finishing off our time there with a pumpkin spice latte! Even though we only spent a matter of hours there, the experience felt like having a mini holiday, and we'll definitely go back if I get another voucher.

Halloween and Bonfire Night

Something nice we did this autumn was getting into the spirit of things over Halloween and Bonfire Night. As a kid, I used to get really excited about both of these events, but in recent years, I hadn't really celebrated either of them beyond watching the occasional Halloween-themed movie.

But this was Claudio's first non-pandemic Halloween in the UK, and he wanted to see how different it was here compared to the Chilean Halloween, where it's already quite hot and sunny, and doesn't feel quite as spooky as it does in dark and chilly England! So we decided to go on a walk after supper on Halloween night in order to see all the decorations people have put up around the village. I usually don't like going out in the cold and dark, but it was actually a really fun experience, and I felt a little bit of that excitement I used to get when going trick-or-treating. We even stopped to watch a little firework show happening at one house!

Speaking of firework shows, we got to see a much bigger one a few days later, when the village put on its annual Bonfire Night show. Again, this is something that I hadn't been to in person for years - once I got to secondary school age, we started watching it from the window instead. But it's definitely a more fun experience to actually go out and watch it with everyone else. The show was much more impressive than we expected - it lasted about 15 minutes and had some huge, colourful fireworks. Overall, it was a nice and different way to spend a Sunday evening!

Abingdon

The most exciting thing that's happened to us this autumn was becoming an aunt and an uncle! My sister and her husband had a baby boy at the end of September, and we went to visit them in October. After having a cuddle with our nephew at their house, we went out to the town of Abingdon for lunch at the Abingdon Riverside Café and a walk along the River Thames.

I'd heard of the town of Abingdon before but didn't realise it was so picturesque. With the river and its quaint, old-fashioned buildings, it made us think of Bruges. It was great to stroll along the river after a lunch of avocado on toast and a flat white - my favourite combi!

Cotswold Lakes in Autumn

The colours of autumn are always beautiful to see, especially when they're surrounding a tranquil lake. I don't think they were so vibrant this year as I've seen them in other years, but all the same, it was nice to go and check them out at the lake next to the De Vere Hotel and the Gateway Café in the Cotswold Water Park. Afterwards, we went to a little wooden cabin selling donuts and crêpes and had warm donuts with Nutella - would highly recommend!

Marlborough With Claudio

Claudio hadn't yet visited the scenic town of Marlborough, so it was good to get the opportunity to go there for an explore while my parents were visiting a friend. Of course, I had to take Claudio to the famous Polly's Tearooms, which he enjoyed very much!

We also visited some parts of the town I hadn't had time to see when I last went to Marlborough, including the posh Marlborough College, from where you can see the ancient Marlborough Mount (which looks a bit like Silbury Hill near Avebury) and the Marlborough White Horse.

We also went for a walk around the riverside area at the other end of the town, which is another place with a bit of a Bruges vibe!

Our weekend in Surrey and London

We had a somewhat spontaneous weekend in the London area in November, as I was going to meet up with my friends from Malta on the Sunday, and then we arranged a viewing of a flat in Redhill in Surrey on the Saturday.

The flat was an option that was genuinely affordable for us to buy, and I'd really loved it from looking at the pictures on Zoopla, so it was very disappointing that on the Friday afternoon prior to the booking, the estate agent called us to cancel, as someone else had already had an offer accepted. By this point, it was too late to change our train or cancel our hotel reservation, so we went anyway and had a look at the apartment building from the outside. It actually looked much shabbier in person than in pictures, and we weren't massively keen on the area, so it was kind of a relief that we hadn't lost out on something really special! 

The experience did prove to us though that if we're going to find a property to buy in the London area, we're going to have to start off by renting there, so that we can easily explore different areas of the city and view flats at short notice. We've decided we're going to take the plunge and move after we get back from honeymoon in March next year. It is daunting because of the costs involved, but also very exciting, because we love London and really want to live and work there!

After we'd seen the flat, explored the area, eaten and checked into our hotel in Redhill, we took the bus over to Reigate to have a walk around. Reigate is not somewhere we're considering moving to, as it's very expensive, but it was a very nice place to visit. It was particularly interesting to see the Priory and the Castle Grounds.

The following morning we got the train into London, arriving at London Bridge Station, right underneath the Shard!

We then travelled over to Canary Wharf, as neither of us had been before, and we'd seen a reel on Instagram saying that it was like going to New York without having to pay for an expensive flight! That's actually not wrong - even though we haven't been to the Big Apple yet (hopefully we'll go in the not-too-distant future), we did kind of feel like we were there! The skyscrapers are amazing and I loved the sculptures made from leaves.

We stopped off at Blank Street Coffee, a coffee chain that only has locations in the United States, London and Manchester. I've seen it mentioned a lot on LinkedIn for its marketing strategies, so wanted to visit, being a marketing girly myself! I had a pistachio latte, Claudio had a chocolate orange mocha, and we both had a pistachio pain au chocolat. While my latte was too sweet for my taste, Claudio's mocha was pretty good, and the pastries were very tasty, although they were also very sweet - I think they gave me a sugar rush and then a crash later! 

While we were in the area, we also had a look round the London Museum Docklands, which is actually free to enter. Here you can learn all about the Docklands area, its history as a port, and its role in the slave trade. 

Interestingly, there was a room with signs showing all the different places where the ships from the Docklands went to trade, and Claudio was surprised to see it included two cities in Chile - Valparaíso and San Antonio!

Afterwards, we travelled over to the west of the city to enjoy the Christmas decorations in Covent Garden.

Then it was time for me to meet up with the girls from Malta over in Waterloo, while Claudio went to look at the Christmas lights in Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street.

There were 7 of us in total out of the 12 of us that went out to Malta together, so not a bad turnout. We went round the South Bank Christmas market and then had a Sunday roast in a pub. It was great to catch up with everyone and hear what they've been up to. Hopefully, we'll have another meet-up in the new year!

That's all from me for today - and for this year! Of course, there are some big adventures yet to come in 2024, and I'm very excited to write about them in January.

Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2025 to everyone reading this! See you soon 😊